Jordan Ta'amu


Jordan Taalolo Taamu-Perifanos is an American football quarterback for the Kansas City Chiefs of the National Football League. He played college football at the University of Mississippi. He was the starting quarterback for the St. Louis BattleHawks of the XFL during its inaugural season.

Early years

Ta'amu attended the Pearl City High School in Pearl City, Hawaii. As a senior, he passed for 1,779 yards with 29 touchdowns against four interceptions.

College career

Ta'amu played at the New Mexico Military Institute for two seasons before transferring to the University of Mississippi. As a sophomore he passed for 3,014 yards and 32 touchdowns. He transferred to Ole Miss before the 2017 season. He entered the 2017 season as the backup to Shea Patterson, but took over as the starter for the final five games after Patterson suffered an injury. He finished the season with 1,682 passing yards, 11 touchdowns and 4 interceptions. He also rushed for 165 yards and 4 touchdowns. With Patterson transferring to the University of Michigan, Ta'amu entered the 2018 season as the starting quarterback. In his senior season he passed for 3,918 yards, 19 touchdowns and 8 interceptions. He also rushed for 342 yards and 6 touchdowns. He finished the season ranked second in SEC passing yards, behind Alabama's Tua Tagovailoa, who played in three more games.

Professional career

Houston Texans

On August 7, 2019, Ta’amu signed with the Houston Texans. On August 30, 2019, Ta’amu was released.

St. Louis BattleHawks

On October 15, 2019, Ta'amu was allocated to the St. Louis BattleHawks of the XFL, the first player for the team. He is the only one of the XFL's first eight quarterbacks to not have any professional regular season experience. He signed a contract with the team on November 4, 2019. On January 29, 2020, Ta'amu was named the starting quarterback.
During the BattleHawks first game against the Dallas Renegades on February 9, Ta'amu threw for 209 yards and a passing touchdown, while rushing for 77 yards, helping the team win a 15–9 victory against the Renegades. He had another productive game in Week 2 against the Houston Roughnecks, with 316 combined yards of offense and four total touchdowns, but threw 2 interceptions as the Battlehawks lost 28 - 24. After the XFL's season was cut short, Ta'amu was placed on the reserve/other league list on April 2, 2020, in order to sign with the Kansas City Chiefs. He had his contract terminated when the league suspended operations on April 10, 2020.

Kansas City Chiefs

Ta’amu signed with the Kansas City Chiefs on April 2, 2020.

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